City judge: Textual harassment on the rise

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, November 13, 2009

The recent arrest of a woman who allegedly sent text message threats to two complainants in a criminal case sheds light on a trend that some officials are dubbing "textual harassment."

Iona Moss, 6 Silk St., was arrested by Norwalk Police on Nov. 2 for threatening to physically harm persons who had knowledge of misdemeanor charges she is facing from a September arrest, police said. Moss now faces felony charges for her actions.

"Technology has become an extension of this type of behavior, and it is very easy to do," said Susan Delaney, director of PeaceWorks, an educational program organized by the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Norwalk Superior Court Judge Maureen Dennis said, over the past year or so, she has noticed an increase in textual harassment, especially in cases of violating a protective order.

Dennis said she runs down a list of possible communication methods so that defendants understand the terms of a protective order.

"I clarify on the record that this means not only physical contact but the Internet and cell phones, " she said. "I even go so far as to include carrier pigeons."

As persons in their 40s and 50s becomes more technologically savvy, the rate of texting being used by perpetrators in drug and witness intimidation cases is also on the rise, Dennis said.

Cell phone technology has provided new tools for aggressors in violent relationships, according to Delaney.

Controlling spouses sometimes text their partners hundreds of times each day and keep tabs on their whereabouts by texting their friends, Delaney said. GPS technology available on some cellphones also allows spouses to keep track of their partners' movements, Delaney said.

Some controlling spouses even threaten to send nude pictures of their partners to friends, relatives and co-workers of the partner in order to keep them in an abusive relationship, Delaney said.

"As technology advances, so do the tactics of power and control," Delaney said.

Efforts to combat this behavior have also expanded.

With PeaceWorks, Delaney and other educators are talking with children in elementary, middle and high school throughout Fairfield County about digital abuse.

"If someone is sending these messages to them, they need to let somebody know because it can escalate," Delaney said.

The DVCC will hold a forum on Dec. 3 in New Canaan called "Hit me on my Cell" to educate parents in the Fairfield County area about digital abuse.

Andrea Dahms, a victim's advocate for the DVCC, said the DVCC works out plans with victims of textual abuse to ensure their safety. The program advocates keeping track of the harassment by saving phone bills and messages for prosecutorial purposes.

Law enforcement officials can obtain records of a person's text messaging history from certain phone companies, as records of such communications are stored by certain carriers, Dennis said.